9.25.2008
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
Over at the On Faith site, the panel weighs in on abortion. Pagan panelist Starhawk gives her take on "abortion and The Goddess".
"Women are moral agents, and in the Goddess and Pagan traditions, we are each our own spiritual authority. We have a right to wrestle with these issues ourselves, not have them predetermined for us by government authorities. We have a right to determine what goes on inside our bodies. To deny that right to women is to invite government intrusion into all kinds of private and personal choices. Overturning Roe vs. Wade would open the door to state control of our most intimate and tender decisions, and be a step closer to a totalitarian regime."
She also quotes from the excellent book "The Pagan Book of Living and Dying". In other Starhawk-related news, she has posted a six-minute video clip of Reclaiming's annual Spiral Dance ritual to her web site.
For information on this year's Spiral Dance ritual, click here.
Over at the Nation, Max Blumenthal writes about infiltrating Sarah Palin's former church, and gets his hands on video footage of the now-infamous "blessing" done by anti-witchcraft crusader Thomas Muthee on Palin in 2005. Guess what? Muthee didn't just pray for her to become governor, he also asked for her to be protected from "witchcraft".
"Muthee's mounting stardom took him to Wasilla Assembly of God in May, 2005, where he prayed over Palin and called upon Jesus to propel her into the governor's mansion -- and beyond. Muthee also implored Jesus to protect Palin from "the spirit of witchcraft." The video archive of that startling sermon was scrubbed from Wasilla Assembly of God's website, but now it has reappeared."
So much for claims that Palin was ignorant or non-compliant in that church's ongoing and active participation in Third-Wave "spiritual warfare" tactics. One wonders what "spirits of witchcraft" Palin needed protection from? Are there fortune tellers in Wasilla causing car accidents?
The brutal beating of a woman in Florida by a cult group has produced some of the worst journalistic accounts I have ever read. Fueled by incomplete information, this gang is painted as some sort of Santeria-Voodoo-Pagan-Satanic hybrid. With guns.
"Wood told investigators she was once a member of a Santeria voodoo group in Flagler County. She said Sunday's abduction and beating were not the first she had suffered in recent days as a result of her leaving the group last year to become a Christian ,,, Wood also told investigators the men and a petite blonde woman named "Sky" took her to an open field near a home where a bonfire was burning. They were "preparing" for the autumnal equinox, she said." "They needed me to help call the spirits," Wood told investigators, indicating it was something she had done when she was a member of the group."
It seems to me there is some vital information missing here. It's also troubling that the only "expert" quoted in any of the linked articles is a cult "exit counselor". So far the only part of her story that has been confirmed is that a local church was helping her. Here's hoping that whoever did beat her goes to prison, and that some less sensationalist light is shed on this cult/group.
In a final note, the Covenant of the Goddess has sent out a press release in support of same-sex marriage in California and Massachusetts.
"Covenant of the Goddess has, since its inception in 1975, had clergy willing to celebrate the religious if not the legal joining of two members of the same gender. While we respect the right of the individual clergy within COG who may choose not to perform such a ceremony, we are in support of marriage between two committed adults of any gender, and a majority of our celebrants are willing to perform such ceremonies."
The release, which hasn't been posted to their web site yet, also goes into the history of same-sex marriage in pagan cultures, and the social and legal importance of allowing marriage rights to same-sex couples today.
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: abortion, Christianity, COG, GLBT, marriage, On Faith, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, Santeria, Sarah Palin, Satanism, Starhawk, Thomas Muthee, Voodoo
9.12.2007
Standing Up, Being Heard
The O.C. Register has a profile up of Orange County Witch Yvonne Conway, national spokesperson for the Covenant of the Goddess, who was recently involved (along with COG) in the fight to get the US Department of Veterans Affairs to include the Pentacle on grave markers and tombstones.
"Conway is the national spokesperson for the Berkley-based witchcraft organization Covenant of the Goddess. She may also be Orange County's most prominent witch. The 37-year-old Huntington Beach native organizes three Meetup.com social networking groups for Orange County witches, pagans and ghost enthusiasts ... In 2008, she will help co-host a four day national conference on witchcraft near Yucaipa. As a fully "out-of-the-broom-closet" witch, Coway says her job is to put a public face on Wicca, the pagan faith she estimates up to 1,000 Orange County residents practice."
Conway represents a newer generation of Pagan leaders who are transcending the limiting politics of lockstep unity and are instead helping to build strong coalitions around issues that diverse Pagan and Heathen groups care about (like our religious symbols on Veteran grave markers).
"It's tough for (wiccans) to find a way to work together ... But this was about prejudice and being treated like second class citizens or less because of our religious beliefs. There was absolutely no controversy."
The Veteran Pentacle Quest is now evolving and moving forward to work towards the approval of Heathen and Druid symbols, something that activists like Yvonne Conway will no doubt be involved in.
Labels: activism, California, COG, Paganism, Veteran Pentacle Quest, Wicca, Yvonne Conway
